“[MacLellan] also talked about advanced stats and his love of mathematics, and I thought that was really interesting, because we want to be a leader, and continue to be able to mash up both stats and what you see.” – Ted Leonsis

GMBM needs to stop everything he’s doing currently and take a step back. Get out of the Niskanen god damn rodeo. What the caps could use now are another defensemen and a 2c. Now are you going to have to move some cap space now? Yes, send erskine, brouwer, and mojo to a team for a winger to play opposite OV and a daft pick or two. Before looking for a defensemen the caps need to send on offer sheet to Ryan Johansen an offer sheet for 6 years 5.5 million per. There is a long term solution to 2c for years to come. If that doesn’t work and you need to do what GMGM did last year with Grabo. Wait until before training camp to target the talented but overlooked 2C and D and sign them to bargain contracts, its not rocket science

Rob W.

More of the same ol BS from the “new(?)” front office…cant say im surprised

The thing I found about the McPhee era was I didn’t get remotely excited about many of the moves he made. He never got the big fish and simply created a need by filling another, compiled more and more 3rd liners and routinely made underwhelming moves you knew wouldn’t amount to much. MacLellan was an underwhelming hire and his first move is the same type of McPhee underwhelming move that seemingly everyone but the people in charge can see isn’t going to turn out well.

PWong

What deal? Is there something going on today?

mxhockey

Over paid for a guy that can’t skate! What a clown as a GM!

kemiisto

No point to watch the upcoming season, which means more free time. Great deal from that perspective.

riggorules

Honestly, you guys are being too soft on them. I was never a FIRE GMGM guy, but I’m already there with GMBM.

starsandbeyond

We’ve already gotten our share of daft picks, sadly.

kemiisto

So we couldn’t afford 2nd line centre (Grabo) for $5.0 million AAV for 5 years, but…

kemiisto

Yes, but this will not solve the problem, which is the owner.

Cthulu’s Alarm Clock

I can’t help but feel that Leonsis is making us pay for calling for GMGM’s head this past season….

Aaron Contic

Bush league moves from our bush league gm

Cthulu’s Alarm Clock

An Alison Brie gif…you actually made me forget about the Orpik deal for about 3 seconds…

Emily Casto

Impressed with those fancy quotes. Sadly, seems as though it’s too late. Uncle Ted spent all of our beer money on an old, slow, black-hole of a Penguin. Welcome to Caps Defense!

Dustin Sier

I would go out on a limb and say that this is nothing like something GMGM would’ve done.

GMGMNeverBreaks

I keep waiting for someone to announce that $27.5M was a typo. I generally try to be as charitable to management as I can, but I can’t imagine any other team offered Orpik anything close to $5.5M per, let alone for five seasons. I would’ve been amenable to signing Orpik for the right amount (<$4M/year), but I can't even imagine a reasonable explanation for these terms especially considering what other D have gone for.

AbrasiveD

Not sure there is anything he can do make up for this one. What a bad start to the day. And to think I started off the day hopeful for the caps.

Emily Casto

Peter, I’ll follow you to one of the 500 Irish bars in DC and continue as RMNB embraces the Footie. How does one play footie in Russia? There’s not a field of thawed grass in that place.

HartKiller_09

The only potential positive here is if Orpik were to hit Crosby with one of those dirty head shots Penguin fans swear he doesn’t do.

pixiestix

Maybe to keep track of which one we’re talking about, we can call them BrooksC and BrooksD

HartKiller_09

The Capitals already have an over-paid useless Brooks.

Jack Conness

This is pathetic. I’m a Caps fan till the end, but this is making it extremely difficult. Seeing management ruin a team is heartbreaking.

themav80

my feels

sargeantmofo

Brooks Back Mountain?

Kory S.

Honestly, give GMBM a chance. I will support this decision to sign Orpik until his future performance on the ice proves otherwise. A key thing that some people are missing is the fact that a lot of free agents are overpaid, because free agency is a bidding war between teams who all want to fill the holes in their roster. However, did Orpik need a 5 year contract? Absolutely not. He probably will not play top minutes anyways, especially if Niskanen is signed.

lol did you just notice we got niskanen so your happy or are you being sarcastic?

PWong

Someone wake me when it’s preseason cause I’m done paying attention to this crap for the rest of summer

Taylor Kelley

Great and now Niskanen… swell, can we get a GM mulligan?

dylan wheatley

this is garbage

yv

Funny.

Aaron Portzline@Aportzline
If you can’t beat the Penguins, buy the Penguins? #Caps #Pens

Rob Young

If it’s true about Niskanen, I stand corrected. McPhee would never have made such a disastrous decision in terms of the cap. But PLEASE don’t sabotage team chemistry by talking smack about our new players.

Danny Lioudkevitch

No sarcasm. Just noticed we got Nisky and I’m ecstatic. Although Orpik’s deal will bite us later on, it’s still great that we got Orpik and Niskanen to work with Reirden so we they can get the ball rolling quick.

Rob Young

The worst thing about Niskanen is that now we can’t have Grabovski. Or various other 2Cs. This is ridiculous.

Austin

glad you were not being sarcastic because I think it is great as well, I dont think everyone on this forum agrees with us though….

Danny Lioudkevitch

They’ll eat their words when the season starts. We basically added a legitimate top 4 pair from one of the best team in the league. Along with this new coaching staff, this is all very, very good.

Austin

Exactly. And statistically the penguins were the 10th best defensive team this year according to Mike Vogel on Monumental Network so their D in Pittsburgh was not as bad as some people believe ( not saying it was really great just saying it wasn’t that bad)

CapNMac

Ted should call him up to his office and have him give a presentation on what analytics he used to justify this signing, since one of the things that impressed Ted in GM Mac’s interview was his interest in moving the team more in that direction.
I get the impression that GM Mac had a psychological profile of Ted and simply said what he knew Ted wanted to hear.

Not necessarily. We might be able to ditch Laich for some low end picks in order to throw money at Grabo or Legwand.

Barrett

The two players that you consider legitimate top 4 dmen played on a team with arguable 2 of the top 5 centers in the NHL. We have Backstrom and……Jay Beagle and Michael Latta. You need strength down the middle to drive possession and the Capitals lack it, very very badly.

Barrett

If you put a cowboy hat on him, GMBM kinda looks like Woody from Toy Story.

Danny Lioudkevitch

That’s true. But you have to consider that we’ll be adding a 2C soon (hopefully Grabo) and Backstrom is no slouch on defence. Last year was an anomaly in terms of our D-play because we had no D and our entire coaching staff aside from Forsythe was brutal. Now that we have Trotz and Reirden, I see our whole team committing to defence very well.

Barrett

$1,113,205 in cap space isn’t going to land Grabovski. He wants $5+mil per year and GMBM balked at that request before signing Orpik to his ridiculous 5 year $27.5mil deal. That’s the deal Grabovski should have received.

Danny Lioudkevitch

We can land Grabo if we can trade Laich for a 4th-6th round pick to a team still looking to meet the cap floor. I also hope we buy out Erskine.

Barrett

Why would any team take on Brooks Laich in a trade for draft picks when they could just sign Grabovski, meet the cap floor and save their picks?

Danny Lioudkevitch

True, but maybe those teams might have a hard time convincing Grabo to come play for a rebuilding team. None of those cap floor teams have thrown big money at Grabo yet so I’m inclined to believe they won’t, because he won’t take it.

Don’t get me wrong, I know Laich will be a tough sell, but I think (really hoping) it’s possible.

Cracker Joe

Too much? Yep.
But it’s done.
And it was likely done with the input of Trotz, Lambert, and Reirden.
Personally I would have liked Stralman instead of Orpik but I’m not
a GM, a coach, or an assistant coach. The Caps HAD to address
the D and they did. Had they pulled a McPhee and done nothing
many would be throwing themselves off the 14th Street bridge and others
would be calling for GMBM’s head.

The caps HAD to upgrade. They did, and yes, it will hurt us if the GM
does not get rid of some contracts through trades, soon.

Barrett

I don’t see many cup contenders with the ability to drop $5+mil on Grabovksi. Teams like Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Dallas, St. Louis, Montreal, New York (R) and Detroit are all pushing the cap limit. So he’s going to have to choose between a middle-of-the-pack type team for average money or a rebuilding team for the amount he wants.

Rhino40

BROOKSIVS MAXIMVS ET BROOKSIVS MEDIANVS?

Brooksi Major & Brooksi Minor?

Le Petit Brooksi et le Grand Brooks!?

Der kleine Bruksi und Der große Bruksi?

Barrett

Would have been more logical to trade the players you need to in order to free up cap space to sign the players you want before you screw yourself over…no?

Cracker Joe

And so are Carrick, Erskine, Schmit, and Hillen.

The Caps weren’t going anywhere with the above.

GMBM is going for broke and that’s so much better than the
cringing, timorous McPhee.

GMBM isn’t done; expect him to shred payroll through trades.

Cracker Joe

Exactly.
It ain’t over yet.
GMBM might be a genius or a failure but I like his riverboat
gambler style.

Cracker Joe

Well said, Danny!

Cracker Joe

Good riddance.

Cracker Joe

Tell it to Reirden and Trotz.
You think they didn’t weigh in on these signings?
They’re a heck of a lot closer to the game than you are.

Cracker Joe

Well, you’re not and you won’t be…

Cracker Joe

Tragic isn’t it?

Cracker Joe

As opposed to McPhee?

Cracker Joe

Yeah, I guess you’re missing the cringing, fearful McPhee?

Cracker Joe

You hated McPhee because he had no b*lls
and now you hate GMBM because he has b*lls.

Wow.

It might blow up in everyone’s face and it might turn out very well.
Try to be glad there’s no more p*ssy footing around!

Cracker Joe

More of the SAME ?
Do you honestly believe McPhee would have had the guts
to make such a move?
Sure, it all might turn out horribly but GMBM has guts!
He’s goin’ for broke!
Something Mcphee wouldn’t know about…

Cracker Joe

How do we know he didn’t try?
Let the dust settle before calling for BM’s head.

Pat Magee

Still?

Barrett

Not saying he didn’t try.

Just not logical to spend money before you have cap room to make other moves that you need to make.

You don’t go out and buy a new boat when you drive a honda accord and hope your boss will give you the raise he’s been hinting at so you can buy the truck you need to tow the boat.

Why in the world would you A) have Green on the 3rd pair, B) play Green and Orlov together, and C) play Niskanen and Orpik together.
Alzner – Carlson
Niskanen – Green
Orlov – Orpik

Eric Schulz

If these deals didn’t prevent us from resigning Grabovski, then I wouldn’t care. We can buy out Orpik in 2 years, Niskanen in 3 or 4. Having them for those years would be an improvement, and would address problems that this team has had for way too long. However, I can’t imagine we keep Grabovski (or add any other legit 2C, or even 3C), which means we traded a dynamic 2C for a 5D and 6D. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
If, somehow, we manage to fit Grabovski onto the team, then 90% of my objections go away though. (I don’t see how… but… trade Brouwer, trade Ward, put Laich in minors?
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Fehr
Kuznetsov – Grabovski – Wilson
Burakovsky – Johansson – Brown
Chimera – Latta – Beagle
Um… yeah, it’s thin on forward and defense now… but… fuck.)

Man, you are being too soft on him even. Who are we gonna trade that both frees up space AND doesn’t kill our depth. We had a damn good forward core and needed to address the defense. If, in adding these overvalued defenders, we need to strip the forward core, then our problems merely flip, they aren’t solved.
Also, I think we still don’t have a strong defense, we just don’t have a weak one anymore.

Eric Schulz

Maybe he hates him, and that’s why we had to pay him so damn much to get him to come here. He’s worth over half of what he got, but not by a lot.

Eric Schulz

Yeah, most people hate GMs who are morons; we aren’t allowed to only hate one particular brand of idiocy. I hate them all.

Eric Schulz

That’s misleading. He said that because we KNOW that Orpik doesn’t drive possession, no shit. We are expecting him to block shots and clear the front of the net. If you pair him with Green or Orlov, that’s a fine pairing (I don’t mind, at all, Niskanen – Green as 2nd, Orlov – Orpik as 3rd). Signing him was NOT a bad move… giving him $30 M a year for the next 20 years was the problem.

Barrett

No more compliance buyouts, meaning any buyout (ordinary-course buyout) moving forward carries a cap hit based on the players contract (info & formula at capgeek.comcom). That would be roughly a $3.63mil +/- cap hit over 8 years for Orpik or $3.80mil +/- cap hit over 6 years for Niskanen. That would cripple the franchise. Cannot see that happening.

Barrett

You got my hopes up last night too man! I was loving the different scenarios we were able to come up with including names like Grabovski, Richards, Cammalleri, Moulson, Havlat, Boyle, Ehrhoff, Stralman, Mitchell, Robidas, Fayne etc. Then today rolled around.

Just thinking what we could have had with the $11.25mil GMBM spent on two players.

Fedor

Thanks, I know.

Eric Schulz

I realize no more compliance buyouts (even if we had them, we couldn’t use them on deals signed after the lockout). I still think freeing up money by buying out Orpik in 2 years is worth it, no matter what. If we are lucky, Niskanen’s contract doesn’t kill us until year 6 or 7, and we can sign a few undervalued guys and not be too screwed by his contract. But these contracts have already crippled the franchise, buying out Orpik in year 3 only gives us a broken leg instead of paraplegic.

Eric Schulz

I know… looking at all the deals, most of which were about what I would’ve expected (Moulson was a tad high, I’d only want to pay $4 M, but no higher than I expected), Cammalleri was about right on, Havlat was super-cheap, Richards too… Ehrhoff also… Gilbert and Robidas about right. God, what a disaster this first offseason has been.
We could’ve come away with Grabovski, Havlat, Robidas, and Gilbert for what we paid those two bozos.

Barrett

The sad part is I actually like Orpik and was a guy I wanted them to target to pair with Mike Green, but the $$$ and length of that contract makes no sense. How, as a GM, you cannot come to the conclusion that signing him and/or Niskanen puts the team in a financial hole when they are still a few pieces short of being a legit contender is mind boggling.

Cracker Joe

Well, haven’t we all been rookies at one time?
Rookie or not, he’s better than McPhee.

Cracker Joe

Hey, Eric.
I can only speculate that B-Mac ( sorry ) was listening
to Reirden and Trotz when he decided on Orpik. Look,
I don’t like the terms either, but maybe, maybe, Reirden
and Trotz got it right and Orpik will do well in Trotz’s
system…you know, with more expected defensively of
the forwards. Also, if Trotz limits Orpik’s minutes to 20
perhaps he’ll thrive.
Now, regarding the center position. You and I know that
Laich and Kuz are not the answer, that’s why I hope
BM can shed payroll via trades in order to free up enough
to bring in a legit 2nd line center.
I’m sweating too, Eric. I’ve suffered so long with the caps
that I’m close to breaking…we’ve got to improve this
year or I’m gonna join a monastery in Tibet.

Ian, do you ANY idea the effect this is having on me?
I was unbalanced BEFORE but you posted this video
but this has sent me over the edge!!!
You owe me, Ian !!!
( a six-pack of Milwaukee Ice Fedex’d to me might bring me back ! )
My Best,
Cracker

Cracker Joe

I’m sorry, Fedor.
I don’t like the terms either, but Jeez, at least BM
is trying.

Cracker Joe

Why didn’t those russians demand Kuz be better
at face-offs?
Or lift more weights?
Or eat more?
I hope we can trade our way to an experienced 2nd line
center…man, I think I’m gonna pull out my hair.

Cracker Joe

This looks better.
Green and Orlov must be kept apart at all costs.

Eric Schulz

The problem is: we just signed Orpik to a deal that would’ve been reasonable for Grabovski. Now we are counting on them to be smart in making trades to open up cap room (trading the right players), THEN be smart in signing the right people with the cap room they create. I’m gonna go ahead and bet against it.

Rranger

Way to go Caps lol. You and the Isles keep things light around here.

Cracker Joe

You make some good points, Eric.
We’ll have to wait and see.

Russian Machine Never Breaks is not associated with the Washington Capitals; Monumental Sports, the NHL, or its properties. Not even a little bit.